


Reprieve

by wolfsan11



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Awkward situations, Bonding, Humour, Hunk's Pov, Keith is precious, Light Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Team as Family, Voltron s4 spoilers, child keith, set VLD season 4, vldtropesfest2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-10 05:57:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12905556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfsan11/pseuds/wolfsan11
Summary: “ . . . I’m sorry, come again? Keith is a what?”In Hunk’s defense, it’s been a long day.-In which Keith is a child and the team proves that family is family, no matter how wide the distance between them seems.





	Reprieve

“ . . . I’m sorry, come again? Keith is a what?”

In Hunk’s defense, it’s been a long day.

It's barely past noon, but after a horribly early wakeup call, a hurried breakfast, two back-to-back missions and an emergency repair job on some rebel crafts, he's ready to give up and hit the sack. That combined with the dread of having to put on yet another embarrassing show for potential alliances later that night just about sums up his life as a Paladin of Voltron now.

Unfortunately, no one else on the team had returned yet from their own missions, and Coran had graciously dumped the task of manning the comms on him until they were all back.

So it’s only fair that he’s a little slow on the uptake right now.

Kolivan stares out at him from the video feed, hood down and mask deactivated. He’s as dispassionate as ever, spine straight and arms crossed primly behind him in classic parade rest.

“Keith is a child,” he repeats, confirming that yes, Hunk had actually heard right the first time around. Concern bubbles up through the exhaustion, along with just the bit of defensiveness on behalf of Keith. Sure, maybe he’s not part of the team anymore, but Hunk likes to think their friendship and bond as Paladins still has them connected. All he knows is, he _really_ misses Keith.

“That’s a little harsh,” he protests. “I know he can be hard to get, but I’m sure he’s trying his bes—”

“No, I don’t think you understand,” Kolivan interrupts. There’s a minute tic at his jaw. “I mean, he is a _child_.”

Hunk goes to respond but then there’s a commotion somewhere behind Kolivan and a lanky, long-limbed Blade walks into view, carrying a dark lump in their arms.

“Leader. We finally managed to calm him. He’s asleep now.”

Kolivan turns towards them, and Hunk stares.

The lump is a little boy. A _human_ boy, with a familiar mop of ashy black hair that sticks up every which way.

It clicks then.

“Holy pole jumping barracudas. Keith is a child.”

Kolivan mouths “Barracudas?” and the Blade beside him shrugs. Hunk hysterically takes note of how graceful a shrug it is despite carrying a toddler in their hands and oh man, oh heck, that’s what Kolivan had meant. That’s _Keith._

“Keith is a _child_ ,” he repeats.

“Yes. That is what I said the first time.”

“ _Keith_ is a _child_.”

“Marmora help me,” Kolivan mutters.

 

* * *

 

“So. You weren't kidding, huh?” Pidge says blankly, when Kolivan walks in with the child that’s supposedly Keith. He's still asleep, thumb in mouth, draped in some kind of loose shirt that covers him all the way down to his little baby feet.

“Told you so,” Hunk says, sourly. He'd only been trying to convince the team of it for the past _half hour_ since their return from their missions.

Kolivan sighs and raises his eyes to the ceiling. Which, weird, since there's nothing to see up there, but weirder still is the way he's cradling Keith, huge arms enveloping the sleeping boy close to his chest.

Oh. Oh, no, scratch that, that’s _adorable_.

Hunk needs a moment to gather himself because nothing about Keith “sleeps with a dagger, could cut you five different ways before you've taken a step” Kogane has ever been adorable. Not even the way he tilts his head when he's confused by something or how his eyes gleam and his eyebrows scrunch up when he smiles or—

Okay, so regular Keith had always been adorable. ‘n number of years’ old Keith is ten times so. Okay. Hunk might be having a crisis and it's demanding he cradle the boy himself and coo at him in baby talk.

Hunk is _not_ going to coo at him in baby talk.

He doesn't fail to notice the way Lance's eyes well up at the sight of Keith or his faint murmur of “Oh no, I can't _not_ knit him a tiny sweater . . .”

Pidge clutches at her face, quivering the way she only ever does around tech gadgets. Next to him, Shiro makes an oddly pained noise. Hunk clamps a hand on his shoulder and wills him to be strong.

“How did this happen?” Asks Allura. “Does he even know who we are?” It's a good thing they have her around, since everyone else seems caught in the sappy rapture that somehow always infects people in the presence of a tiny human being. Or a big dog. Either way, _someone_ has to ask the important questions.

Kolivan gently shifts his bundle of precious jo— _Keith_ —into a better position.

“He was on a liberation mission in the Galra mines of planet Sevara. The mission went well but it seems the minerals there emit energies that have certain . . . side effects that his suit failed to filter out. As for the latter question, no, I don’t believe he does. He didn't recognize any of us when an operative brought him in. We beleive he’s regressed to an approximate age of 4 human deca-phoebs.”

“ _Side effects_?” Lance begins in his usual loud, sassing tone, but his eyes are still kinda teary and he's fooling no one, least of all Hunk, his best friend of 3 years, thank you very much. “You call this side effects? He's been turned into a kid! What kind of messed up sci-fi show is this even?!”

“Lance—” Shiro says, in warning, and Lance slaps his hand over his mouth as though he can muffle the volume of words already spoken. It’s obviously too late, and Keith jerks awake. His eyes snap open, huge pits of violet staring up at Kolivan and then swinging over to them. In response, they all freeze.

It’s a standoff, one kid versus the defenders of the universe. Keith keeps staring, gaze drifting from one paladin to the other. Hunk tenses up when they fall on him, eyes already prickling as he tries to remain absolutely still.

Except—

He blinks.

Keith opens his mouth and screams.

 

* * *

 

“Great idea, setting him down,” Lance says sarcastically. Kolivan glares at him, arms crossed across his chest. His fingers twitch towards his blade and Hunk slowly slides away from them. Best friend protocol only covered so many factors; purposely taunting a deadly warrior was not one of them.

To be fair, it hadn’t been Kolivan’s fault. No one had expected Keith to kick up such a fuss, wailing and screaming until the Galra had been forced to set him down or risk dropping him. Of course the moment his feet touched the ground, Keith had run for the nearest hiding place, which, in this case, was a little alcove beneath the main dashboard.

After a few minutes of panicked yelling, running around like headless chickens and pleading for Keith to stop crying and come out, Shiro had taken charge, sitting near where the boy was hidden and quietly coaxing him out with murmured reassurances.

“No, that’s just Kolivan, he’s—really nice. I promise he’s not gonna eat you. No, none of us will. Yes, I swear it . . . Cross my heart and swear to die, yeah . . .”

To the shock of absolutely no one, Keith had eventually crawled out and stretched his arms up towards Shiro, watery puppy eyes wide and pleading.

Shiro never stood a chance.

And there he is now, settled in Shiro's arms and sniffling away, trusting him despite not even knowing him yet. Shiro smooths a hand over his back, bouncing him gently as he begins to hum something soft and soothing. In response, Keith buries his face further into his shoulder pad, arms circled tight around his neck.

Shiro shoots them all a dazed, wide-eyed look. Hunk shrugs in response.

He can't really blame the guy. Tiny Keith is a weird enough scenario, but to have your boyfriend be the one turned into Tiny Keith must be infinitely weirder.

In the meantime, Allura sighs and turns back to Kolivan, who looks absolutely relieved to have Keith off his hands.

“Thank you for bringing him to us,” says Allura. She’s handling the situation surprisingly well and Hunk wonders just how tiring her mission was exactly. “You are sure this will wear off?”

Kolivan nods, all slow and serious like he thinks it makes him more cool to do it. He’s . . . not wrong.

“My chief scientist declared it a temporary effect from the brief exposure, so it shouldn't last further than a day or two. We thought it better he be here with you; the base is no place for a child.”

“Neither is the Castle, but we’ll just have to make do,” Allura says, pursing her lips in thought. “In any case, we’ll handle it from here. Thank you.”

Kolivan nods again, casts one last look at Keith, and leaves the bridge, Allura following at his heels to see him off.

 

* * *

 

“Quiznak. What are we gonna do with him? We can't handle a kid, we can barely handle ourselves! My brother’s kids were hard enough, and this is _Keith_ , how are we supposed to do this? Not to mention, this Castle isn't exactly child friendly! What if he gets thrown out of the airlock, or hurts himself on the training deck—”

Lance is panicking. Hunk has learned by now that it’s best to let him rant and eventually run out of steam but not everyone has the same patience.

“Will you calm down?” Pidge hisses. “You're making me nervous! Not to mention, he can _hear_ you!”

The three of them turn as one to look at Keith who’s still in Shiro’s arms, spine gone rather rigid. He reaches up to tug at Shiro's ear and Shiro cocks his head down to the boy’s level. He listens patiently to whatever Keith has to say, then aims a glare their way.

“No, Keith,” he says, slow and measured, eyes fixed on Lance. “No one's gonna throw you out of an airlock. That only happens in movies.”

“Seriously?” Hunk blurts.

Shiro looks at him, brow rising sharp and precise and Hunk lifts his hands quickly in wordless surrender. He's not messing with that level of overprotectiveness.

Pidge apparently has no qualms over that though because she’s snuck her way over just behind Shiro, leaning up on her toes to peer at Keith. Keith stares back, nose wrinkling. Pidge lights up and she tentatively flutters her hand at him. Keith hesitates for a moment, then imitates her and waves back.

Before they know it, Pidge is engaged in patiently teaching Keith how to play Patty Cake, which prompts Lance to challenge them to a ‘duel’, pulling Hunk in as part of his team. Shiro is forced to laugh his way through announcing “the Patty Cake duel begins now.”

By the time they lose the third game to the powerhouse Keith and Pidge team, Keith is smiling wide, laughing freely and just being all around—yup, you guessed it— _adorable_.

Hunk thinks, very briefly, that the situation isn't as bad as he’d initially thought. He could get used to this, if it really would only last a day or two.

And then Coran walks in, beaming from ear to ear.

“Ah, Paladins, there you are! I hope you're ready for the night show, I've been assured we’ll be having quite the turnout. The people of Bravan are very eager to see Voltron on Ice!”

There's a moment of silence as Coran registers the scene.

“What in rotunga is that in your arms, Shiro?”

 

* * *

 

“I can't believe Coran is making us do this,” Pidge mutters bitterly.

“I can,” Hunk groans, pulling on his ice skates.

You'd think a teammate—former or otherwise—turning into a toddler would be a good reason to cancel, but _no_. No, apparently, “the show must go on!”

“We must impress them, young paladins, and make them believe in the might of Voltron!”

Well yeah, sure. Personally, Hunk thinks Coran still has a few screws loose after that crazy brainwashing worm episode.

Meanwhile, Shiro goes to lower Keith to the floor, waiting until he has his feet beneath him before he lets go.

“Keith, I'm going to need you to stay here with Coran, alright?”

Keith blinks up at him, then turns to look at the man, who wiggles his fingers at him in a friendly way. In response, he ducks his head and nods, mouth stretching into a thin line.

Huh.

If Shiro notices it, he doesn’t say. Just squeezes Keith’s shoulder gently before walking away to ready himself for the show. The others follow after him and Hunk is last to do so, thoughts lingering on Keith and the way he didn’t quite look anyone in the eye.

 

* * *

 

The show is a success and that’s all Hunk has to say about that. Although, to be fair, Coran _has_ gotten better at planning them. Hunk's actually not being embarrassed at every turn now and he even gets to say funny one-liners and heroically brandish his Bayard, so there's that.

It might be growing on him a little.

Afterwards, the ice is all carved up and littered with ice shavings along with, quite flatteringly, dozens of roses and souvenirs thrown by cheering audience. The Bravan crew are at work in slowly gathering them up.

Lance is still out on the rink, showing off flashy moves and kissing it up to the few stragglers making their way out. Pidge is there too, watching Lance dance around and cheering every now and then when he does an especially fancy twirl.

Hunk leans against the barrier from within the rink, lost in thought.

Coran, Allura and Shiro are off in the corner with the owner of the rink, probably tying off a few details off whatever deal they’d hashed out for the show. Business is business, even in war, Hunk supposes. He’s not really paying attention to them though.

He narrows in on Keith instead. He’s seated in one of the audience seats across from him, where Coran had placed him after they’d come down from the control room at the end of the show. He’s oddly hunched into himself, legs pulled up onto the seat, knees clutched tight to his chest.

It’s something that had been bothering Hunk all day. The way Keith was so quiet, even around Shiro, despite having trusted the man enough to hold him. The way he’d kept himself small and unassuming, hiding away and still wide alert even after the reassurance of no danger. The way he’d been warming up to them, slowly but surely, and then the uncertain look on his face when Shiro had set him down and walked away.

Hunk’s no expert on kids, and yeah, waking up to a purple alien and several unfamiliar humans and humanoids would be frightening to any child. But it doesn't quite add up to what's going on with Keith.

Just then, he catches Shiro glancing over in the same direction, his brows furrowed and lips pursed. They're familiar signs; ones that Hunk had put together over months of knowing the man and eventually understood to mean . . . Concern.

Ah. So he _had_ noticed.

Mind made up, Hunk is skating across the ice before he can talk himself out of it, pulling up quickly to the barrier on that side. Keith looks up, startled by the movement, and Hunk smiles.

“Hey, Keith! What's up? Did you like the show?”

He’s not exactly sure of what he's doing, except going with the flow of what he hopes will work with any little kid. The problem is, it's not just any kid. It's Keith.

Keith nods and offers him a small, shaky smile. Hunk is abruptly ready to throw down his life for him.

Geez, he thinks. Is this what Keith feels whenever Shiro's in danger? No, wait, focus.

“Yeah?” he asks, shaking off the stray thoughts. “Well, which part did you like best?”

Keith frowns in concentration, taking the question very seriously. He hesitates, looking at Hunk.

“I liked . . .” he begins, quietly. Hunk holds his breath, nodding encouragingly. “I liked the part when you all got together and turned into V-Voltron? It looked cool, and fun.”

“Oh, yeah, it was fun, definitely!” Hunk says, hastily rethinking his laments over doing the show. If Keith had enjoyed it, it couldn’t be all that bad, right?

“Mhmm,” says Keith, and some part of him seems to dim with his next words. “Your family’s really nice.”

Family.

A four-year-old should not be making him so emotional, Hunk thinks, in vain. Nothing for it then.

“Right! So, uh, since you liked it so much. Do you . . . maybe wanna join us out on the ice? Play a little? I'm sure we can find some skates to fit you. If you want, that is.”

Keith's eyes practically glow in his excitement.

 

* * *

 

As it turns out, they don't have skates in Keith's size, but it doesn't even matter because Hunk has let go of his inhibitions by that point.

As it turns out, Keith barely weighs a thing when he clambers onto Hunk’s back, so much so that Hunk has to securely hold onto his legs just to be sure he doesn’t go flying as they skate from one end to the other, Lance and Pidge flitting about around them on their own skates.

As it turns out? Keith's laughter is just about the most precious thing in the world. And Hunk is rapidly coming to the realisation that he would do anything to keep it safe.

 

* * *

 

“Oh! He's sleeping,” Allura coos in delight when she, Shiro, and Coran finally return.

Keith is dozing away in one of the seats, Lance’s jacket draped over him as a makeshift blanket. His chest rises and falls steadily, fists loosely curled by his head. Hunk had taken the seat beside him, close enough to brush a hand through his hair, which was apparently a very effective way of dragging an already sleepy Keith right into deep slumber. Pidge sits on his right, with Lance in the row behind them.

“Yeah,” says Hunk. “I think he's had a pretty long and tiring day.”

Shiro joins them, face softening into an expression of unbearable fondness when he sees Keith.

“Thanks for taking care of him,” he says, looking right at Hunk. Hunk just nods in response. He’s not sure he really _gets it_ gets it but . . . he does get it. Especially with the way Shiro gathers up Keith and makes all the effort to ensure his comfort.

“Come on. Let’s take him home.”

 

* * *

 

And then all at once, he's back to normal.

“I swear, there’s a perfectly logical explanation for this,” Shiro says, sheepishly.

Keith stares at him, cheeks dusted a light pink.

“Uhhh. You can explain why I’m sitting half-naked, in your lap, aboard the Castle, when I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be back at the base?”

“Yes? Maybe?”

With belated realisation, Pidge covers her face and shrieks, which prompts Keith to drag Lance’s jacket down to shield his lower half. Lance shrieks as well.

“Oh my god, _ew_ , my jacket! Shiro, make him give it back!”

Shiro turns a bright red.

“I-I don’t think that’d help the situation—”

More shrieks follow. Allura turns around and walks out, muttering darkly under her breath.

Hunk just shakes his head and laughs.

 

* * *

 

Eventually, all clothes are restored to their rightful person and Keith is caught up on the whole story, to which his only reaction is a deadpanned “fuck”, followed by the insistence that they never bring it up again, on pain of death.

Lance immediately brings it up of course, so Keith claims his first victim.

When it’s finally time for Keith to head back to the base though, it’s with a sweeter send off than the first time around, something that clearly leaves him affected. Shiro dips him into a kiss and whispers something that has Keith pressing closer into him for a brief, emotional moment.

Lance, who had apparently survived the brutal attack on his person, grudgingly pats him on his back, while Pidge, Allura and Coran each see him off with tight hugs.

Before Keith climbs into the waiting pod though, Hunk sets a hand on his shoulder and tugs him to a stop. Keith looks at him curiously and Hunk has to clear his throat, faced with those puppy eyes set in an older face.

Hmm. Maybe he had let himself get a tad too attached.

“Y’know,” he starts and it comes out shaky and nervous. He thinks back to that lonely kid in the ice rink and takes a deep breath to steady himself. “You should come around more often, anytime you need a break or even otherwise. We could do the skating thing again since you don’t remember it, I bet we could get Allura to whip up an ice patch with Blue’s laser, and uh . . .”

He trails off, wondering why he'd thought this a good idea at all. He waits for someone to laugh, or for Keith to murder him for bringing up the incident right after he'd asked them not to.

Keith just looks at him, but eventually his lips turn up into a soft smile.

“Okay. Sounds like a plan.”

Hunk grins.

**Author's Note:**

> This work is part of [VLD Tropes Fest](http://vldtropesfest.tumblr.com) | Comments and Kudos are appreciated |


End file.
